BEST 6 volt Battery Source?

[Veemoney]

I have 2 of the NAPA 6 volt batteries that I would swap out and they give you what you would expect for performance. If you have the room step the group number up and get more Cold Cranking AMP (CCA). It makes a big difference

Also have to say an overlooked aspect is the battery is only as good as your cables and ground so when performance is getting low I do a check and clean of the cables and posts,  also do a full charge on the bench charger overnight to top the battery off. .

If you really want a great battery that spins the motor over fast go for the Optima red top in 6 Volt I was surprised at how much difference it made. Now I just run the red top in my old truck

[T120]

I bought this 6 volt group 2 battery in 2011, still serving well. The cost at the time was $79 here in Alberta. I bought through Battery Direct (their label). 610 cold cranking amps. I was told by a forum member the battery was manufactured by EastPenn in the USA and is labelled Deka there - (maybe other labels as well). 

[ACJCF2]

O'Reilly Auto Parts

[Feudin_Wagon]

Most battery warranties are pro-rated once you get out of the free replacement period. The parts stores usually consider a group 1 battery a commercial or ag battery so they don't offer much warranty. Think mine was 12 months pro-rated. So if it had went bad in six months I would be on the hook for half the price of a new one as a warranty exchange. Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Most battery warranties are worthless anymore. Don't expect much.

Not sure why the manufacturers did away decent warranties.

[knuckleharley]

4 minutes ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

Most battery warranties are worthless anymore. Don't expect much.

Not sure why the manufacturers did away decent warranties.

Probably because none of them actually make batteries any more. They just use their name and have them made in foreign countries with less stringent/non-existent environmental laws.

[desoto1939]

To keep your battery life longer we have discussed at the AACA annual meeting lecture series thaty you should have a battery tender onyour car while it it sitting idle.  The main problem is that the battery  discharges without one and then the plates start to corrode and build up on them and they loose their charge by keeping it fully charge these is less corrosion and the battery doe snot have to keep getting recharged after sitting along time.

 

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[De55]

I hate the look of doe snot on my battery....................................sorry.

[Skrambler]

Nothing wrong with a bit of humor!

I actually got a smile out of that! Needed one today, too.

[Skrambler]

O.k.

Opinions, please.

I am tossing around a Group 2 battery, instead of the Group 1 battery from NAPA...

The group 2 battery is going to be an additional 1 3/8 inches longer than the Group 1 battery, so it will not fit nice and snug like the group 1 does... Question is, is it worth my time and efforts to try to modify the battery tray to except the larger Group 2 for the difference of 35 more cold cranking amps?

Somehow, I can not justify it, but please, let me know your thoughts. Thanks again for all the replies.

[busycoupe]

If the electrical system in your car is up to snuff, adequate cables, etc, then the larger battery should not be needed.  After all, modern batteries have thinner cases and larger plates than batteries had 60+ years ago. It would be interesting to look up the specs on the OEM batteries. I suspect they would have less cold cranking amps and amp hour capacity than a modern battery of the same size.

[knuckleharley]

I believe this simple thread about 6 volt batteries has turned into one of the most popular threads here.

Who could have guessed?

[desoto1939]

3 hours ago, desoto1939 said:

To keep your battery life longer we have discussed at the AACA annual meeting lecture series thaty you should have a battery tender onyour car while it it sitting idle.  The main problem is that the battery  discharges without one and then the plates start to corrode and build up on them and they loose their charge by keeping it fully charge these is less corrosion and the battery doe snot have to keep getting recharged after sitting along time.

 

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

After someone posted about the DOE SNOT I also had to laugh at my own post.  It would be funny to see some DOE SNOT on mine since the Doe would have to crawl under the car because my battery is under my front seat.

Hope everyone had a good laugh and I guess you figured it out it is not DOE SNOT but should be DOES NOT.

 

Good laugh by everyone.

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[Niel Hoback]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,  well then whats that gooey stuff on my battery?

[knuckleharley]

32 minutes ago, Niel Hoback said:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,  well then whats that gooey stuff on my battery?

Sometimes it's just better to wonder than it is to know.

[DonaldSmith]

Doe snot, funny.  I always proo fread my entries before I send them, but then I change somethingand things go awry a rye? I'm sure the guys can com eup with some other unusual space placement. or strange hyphenations.  

Benny Hill, a British comedian whose old shows were eventually shown on Public Broadcasting, had one sight gag where the sign man had installed the letters

THE

RAPIST

The Bobby made him change it to THERAPIST

[Young Ed]

3 hours ago, DonaldSmith said:

Doe snot, funny.  I always proo fread my entries before I send them, but then I change somethingand things go awry a rye? I'm sure the guys can com eup with some other unusual space placement. or strange hyphenations.  

Benny Hill, a British comedian whose old shows were eventually shown on Public Broadcasting, had one sight gag where the sign man had installed the letters

THE

RAPIST

The Bobby made him change it to THERAPIST

Was that a common British gag? Faulty towers had a gag where the letters on the sign would be rearranged. The only one I remember said farty towels

[Jerry Roberts]

8 hours ago, Skrambler said:

O.k.

Opinions, please.

I am tossing around a Group 2 battery, instead of the Group 1 battery from NAPA...

The group 2 battery is going to be an additional 1 3/8 inches longer than the Group 1 battery, so it will not fit nice and snug like the group 1 does... Question is, is it worth my time and efforts to try to modify the battery tray to except the larger Group 2 for the difference of 35 more cold cranking amps?

Somehow, I can not justify it, but please, let me know your thoughts. Thanks again for all the replies.

Well since you asked . It has been mentioned here twice that an Optima 6 volt battery is a good choice . They have plenty of CCA 's and will spin the engine almost like a 12 volt battery . It will also fit in your existing battery tray so you don't have to cut up the tray . They are expensive though , but as an added benefit , they don't gas . 

[DrDoctor]

   I agree with knuckleharley—this is the most entertaining topic I’ve read in quite some time.   Again, I agree with knuckleharley—sometimes what one doesn’t know won’t hurt him (it seems like I’m always agreeing with him . . .).

     Now, on a semi-serious note—I have an unknown brand of 6V battery in our car, and it cranks the engine like crazy. Unfortunately, I don’t know any of the battery’s specifications, as none of the labels were on it when we got it back in mid-2013, so I can’t even tell anybody how old it is. I put on a battery tender once every week or so, and in about 10 minutes, it’s fully charged. I’ve been told that if you leave the battery tender on a battery continuously, it won’t last as long as it would if you occasionally disconnect. I was skeptical of that at first, but I had a chopper (9’1” of pure hard-tail fun, S&S engine, Baker trans, PM controls, Daytech frame, Fat Katz tins . . . I could wax on about it forever, but this is neither the place, nor the time), and after the first battery on it lasted only a couple of years, I went to the intermittent connection plan, and that battery lasted 5 years!!! So, I’m a proponent of the intermittent connection of any fully-charged battery to a battery tender.

   Now, on a more somber note—what does the 6V Optima battery cost???

[Skrambler]

9 hours ago, Jerry Roberts said:

Well since you asked . It has been mentioned here twice that an Optima 6 volt battery is a good choice . They have plenty of CCA 's and will spin the engine almost like a 12 volt battery . It will also fit in your existing battery tray so you don't have to cut up the tray . They are expensive though , but as an added benefit , they don't gas . 

O.K., I looked into the OPTIMA 6 VOLT battery, since it seems to be one of the best out there. When I was on their website, they advised me to enter information in regards to what type of car the battery was going to be used in? I filled in the information and got a reply stating that "They do not have a battery for a 1941 Plymouth". But, "Consider building a custom battery box using an OPTIMA battery". Sounds super expensive to me!!!

If someone has purchased a battery that is a direct replacement for a conventional 6 Volt, Group 1 battery, I would love to have more information. From what I understand, the Group 1 batteries are H= 8 3/4, L= 9 and W= 6 7/8 inches. Looks as if there are three places that offer these batteries locally to me Two are Advance Auto Parts, and Pep Boys. The other is an independent warehouse. I just need to know what to ask for so I can get prices. I will advise my findings as well.

Thanks again folks for all your interesting replies.  

 

[Dan Hiebert]

I bought mine at O'Reilly Auto Parts over the counter, but they had to order one in.  The Optima 6v battery is not the same size.  (It is smaller, 3 cells vs. 6 cells for their 12v.)  We had to "reverse engineer" ordering it, because we got the same response if the car info was input first.  So the clerk input the battery info first and back-filled the car info.  That's just tricking an ordering/inventory system intended to make finding parts easier for the clerk and customer. If you are concerned with original appearance, there are companies that make covers for the Optima that look like original 6v batteries.  

[Plymouthy Adams]

I would not rule out Summit Racing for a Optima source......their delivery service is second to none...prices real competitive....their commitment to the customer is way up there also.

[normanpitkin]

I have had a dual 6 volt  Optima system on my New Yorker for 7 years ,cannot complain at all! 

[Local2ED]

I've had very good luck with 6V batteries from Farm & Fleet.

[Skrambler]

Investigated into the cost of the Optima battery, and it is a no go, for me anyway. I could not justify the cost of the battery, period. The warranty required you to bring it back to the place of purchase, too. And it was another pro-rated 3 year deal.

Thank you for everyones input, and replies, making this a very interesting thread.

Off to NAPA.